


Buried Secrets, Buried Lies

by Kazekaitou



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-01-15 09:59:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12318732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazekaitou/pseuds/Kazekaitou
Summary: Lost in the rubble of the Moon Kingdom there are secrets.When Usagi rebuilds the castle to find those secrets, evil forces come after them. A world of politics, lies, and hidden truths await the senshi.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N notes. Based off the Japanese version after Sailor Moon Stars. I recently picked this up (9/2017) YEARS later after watching Sailor Moon Crystal- though it does not follow it. I'm currently updating. This story is currently incomplete. I'm on a Friday (or Saturday) update Schedule. I'm publishing a new chapter one once a week. Here, only edited chapters are posted; the fic is also posted at fanfiction.net with much more posted. However, there will be some changes, and the writing is better in this version, so I think it is worth the wait.

Usagi gazed out the window to the full moon, like she did every full moon. It shown bright in the sky, floating above the tall buildings in Tokyo, rays bouncing off office buildings lighting the city in this soft white glow. She'd been drawn to the moon her entire life, and now she knew exactly why. In her dreams she kept seeing the distant past of her previous life where she had been a princess of a powerful kingdom. She kept seeing marble steps and iridescent lights that fell on the palace as if they were placed there like an ornate rug. Planned and perfect. When she closed her eyes; she could still hear the soft music coming from the open ballroom windows, and feel the cool air as it went through her brushed hair daring it to get out of place. She sighed, coming out of her thoughts and looked over at Luna, her dark colored cat, sprawled out over a cushy pillow and purring in her sleep. Usagi smirked, that old cat could sleep as deeply as she could.

She stood up and grabbed her brooch from the bedside table. It had changed so much over the years finally to settle with the winged heart shaped, a the large Imperium Silver Crystal sitting in the middle. The colors did not reflect the pain, or the long dangerous life that she had lived so far at a mere 18. The more she thought about it the more burdening it came. Not that she would ever tell the scouts that she just wanted to throw it in the ocean, walk away and be the teenager she should have been. Make friends that weren't protectors, laugh about dirty jokes, not be obligated to listen to the news to make sure there weren't any odd disturbances that could be some other evil force. She wanted to go back to the arcade and flirt with Motoki, the high school boy who worked at his father's arcade, and just be the naive girl she was back then. She didn't want to realize that she didn't have enough fingers and toes to count all her near death / death experiences. That was all worth another sigh.

The tree outside her window and the moonlight made an intricate display on her sheets and she traced the outline of the tree with her finger idly. Some part of her deep inside wanted to still be that princess before hand, wanted to have that first home that was torn away from her by an enemy compared to everything else seemed to be the least powerful. How many lives had been lost? But at the same time she selfishly thought 'How many of my dreams have been lost?' She drew her knees up to her chest,and rested her head, while staring at the brooch she still held in her hand.

She had some many questions about the past, and her future. She wondered, could she recreate that past, could the moon kingdom become the moon kingdom once more? Could the magic give the moon at atmosphere, could that little shiny crystal bring back relics from a thousand years ago. She wondered what she'd find if she got to go through the rubble of her home.

Could she go back?

The brooch made a glow that Usagi suspected wasn't the moon reflecting off of it. It was warm in her hand, the soft warmth of magic not hinting to what that "little shiny thing" (a comment from her brother) could do.

"Can I go?" She whispered to it.

It glowed.

Her blue eyes widened as she felt herself getting lighter and lighter then poof.

Thunk.

While the crystal was great for transportation, apparently it hadn't taken any courses on landings. Usagi brushed herself off and stood up and looked over the wasteland of her home.

There was no wind now, she was encapsulated by a bubble of air from the crystal itself. She placed it in her pink pajama pocket and and kept walking. She bent down placing her hand in the fine settled dust. She looked at the rock, shards of buildings and a piece of cloth that somehow was still there from over the years.

She remembered the last day clearly, as if it had happened a few minutes before. Havoc everywhere. She had been told by guards to stay inside the palace. She could hear the screams of the people, of Luna and Artemis, she saw the eyes of her peaceful mother go into fear. It's the first time she'd seen that expression from her in her life. Multiple people kept assuring he that everything would be okay, as they whisked her away from battle into her quarters where she was suppose to stay. She remembered dying that day, an experience beyond description.

A whole civilization crushed in mere hours was the result, the finality of war.

She walked on barefoot, her feet leaving small footprints in the fine dust. She rubbed her hands against some flat ground and could feel the cool marble against her hands. The pathway to the palace. That's what that huge pile of rubble was. It was her home at one point, a place she'd only remembered from dreams. She remembered mostly events involving Mamoru- balls where he had escorted her, hundreds of eyes drawn to her entrance. She remembered feeling so embarrassed, but standing proud. She remembered laughter and drinks fading into private moments and dances. She sometimes would glance at her mother- the queen, and see the small smile when their eyes would lock. Usagi knew that she was happy for her.

She wanted it back. She wanted it all rebuilt. And there was a flash of light from her pocket.

Dust lifted from the area immediately in front of her and then disappeared. She saw cracks in the marble pathway fill, and it begin to shine as if it where new. She see her reflection in it, with a slightly startled expression. Yet beyond the small area of the path was still the broad gray wasteland still of a world forgotten by all. She felt slightly dizzy and swayed for a second.

"Wow."

Her mind raced. Could she restore it? She grabbed her brooch from her pocket and stared at it intently. She had been linked to the magic crystal for years, but could never understand its secrets. Every-once in awhile it just showed her, giving her hints and instructions. Did the magic want this? Was she suppose to do this? Could this become a moon kingdom again?

She heard a piece of rubble fall to the ground and she spun around and saw the Senshi of Pluto.

"Shit!" She jumped and fumbled on her words for a second staring at the Senshi of time. She stood tall holding her large key staff, her emerald green a hair a sharp contrast to the gray land. Pluto watched bemusedly as Usagi tried to make herself slightly less shocked and more presentable, unconsciously dusting off her pink moon and star pajamas as if it would make her look less child-like.

"Setsuna-san! What what…are you doing here?"

"Just know Princess, this is being done for a reason. There are forces that want to know the secrets buried here."

"Buried?"

"They died with The Queen. Only legend remains."

"Where?"

"I do not know. The gate will not show it to me. Keep your eyes open." Pluto turned around raising her staff high in front of her, the red garnet glowing. In front of her opened a dark vortex, and she walked through the gate of time. Usagi was left with more questions than answers as she was transported back to her bedroom, from the crystal's powers.

Nights pass. Every night she restored something new. With focus she found that she could restore larger areas than the first night, but it was absolutely exhausting. Usagi did it all in secret, teleporting at nights after Luna had fallen asleep. Each day seemed to drain more and more out of her, she knew needed a break.

Usagi sat in front of her vanity, and let all her hair loose and began to brush it. Even the act of brushing her hair, usually a very relaxing task for her, seemed to be long and tiring. Yet, over the past few weeks her brain had just filled with more and more questions, and she could not quiet it enough to get quality rest even when she tried.

"Luna ?"

"Hrm?" The cat stretched its paws clawing slightly into one of Usagi's pink pillows.

"How big exactly was the moon kingdom?"

"exactly?" Luna stood up with a cat stretch and jumped onto the white vanity to look at Usagi.

"How many civilians?" Usagi put down her brush and pet Luna's ear gently.

"Civilians? Usagi? What are you wondering about?" Luna stepped away giving her a strange look.

"I just, I just am trying to understand how big the war was." Usagi shrugged.

"With the negaverse?"

"Yes, Luna."

"It was a hectic time back then. It wasn't just the negaverse, it was so many different things. Your mother tried so hard to hold it together, but when the Pluto colony fell…it just, it took a matter of days."

"How many? On Pluto alone?"

"Pluto, probably the size of what China is today in people. Usagi-chan, you have to understand, many many things went wrong then and it cost us."

"It cost them. We're still alive." Her voice was bitter. She picked up the pink brooch and looked at it for a second. "Luna," she picked the cat up "I'm going to show you something." With a flash of white light, they disappeared.

Usagi was much better with the transporting to the moon after a few times of practice and came down gracefully on the marble pathway.

There were streetlights, but they did not turn on. There was the gate, and a fence that surrounded the perimeter of what use to be the palace. There were steps that led to an empty archway with a pile of debris that seemed to be stories high.

"My stars! Usagi? You are rebuilding it?"

"No, it is."She pointed to the brooch. "It is very tiring. Luna, but look this way." She pointed away from the palace were rubble was as far as the eye could see.

"I was wondering around yesterday. I found bowls, spoons, a highchair for a baby. How many Luna? How many died here? This is a graveyard! All the planets are just graveyards! Serenity really did loose everything didn't she? Everybody did." Her head fell, she could feel the tears start to form.

"Usagi-chan, the scale was astronomical. This wasn't a civil war- it destroyed a whole galaxy. Except for that." She turned her head up to the earth, the blue light that shone above them in a magnificent display.

"I just, I knew that Luna. I knew that it was… but I see it now. I hear their screams in my sleep, I feel the power in my chest that I could have used but didn't know how to call it like I do now. I didn't know the words! Why wasn't I taught? Why couldn't I have helped then? I wasn't any older than this was I?"

"You were twenty . "

"I'm not even nineteen yet! Here! Why didn't … could I have changed things Luna?"

"Oh, oh, don't could things Usagi. You couldn't have. You didn't grow up in a time of war. The Senshi were trained but not in experience. The outers were much older- and Pluto, well she is Pluto. Uranus had training from the Civil war on her planet. There was politics abound. You weren't suppose to be an heir for at least another eight to ten years when she was planning on handing the kingdom on. She wanted you to start your family without the responsibility of the Kingdom, not to have the trouble she endured. It was a trying time. You didn't know your power because Serenity had it. Serenity, she, I honestly think now she didn't understand or comprehend the power like you do. She saw it in war. It scared her sometimes. She had nightmares about the wars that were going on before she ruled the land. She was a Senshi, and a good one. The enemy was people, even former friends. She saw it kill people she'd gone to school with. When she took it off the chain at night, she'd look at me sometimes and say 'Luna, Luna, how much longer can I put that thing on everyday. It holds to much pain.'"

"It does! The whole thing does and will forever! You don't have to wield this. You just watch ! It was a battle over it! This killed people as well as healed others. It is a two edged sword." She slumped and laid down looking at the earth. "Luna, I'm just realizing how complicated all this is. And Pluto warns of another force."

"Pluto? You've talked to her?" Luna stretched then settled down on her stomach with an inquisitive look.

"Briefly. She said there are secrets buried here."

"The entire Kingdom had its secrets Usagi. You don't have politics without secrets."

"Something somebody evil wants. Some power, something special. Something like the Imperium Silver Crystal that made this graveyard. And I've been given the task of building the castle again and finding those secrets."

"The Castle was a myriad of secrets Usagi. Everything seeped in tradition, cultures and politics. Everything was done so specifically. Bow here, smile here, curtsy here. Dress well, waltz well, smile well and be very diplomatic. Sit down, talk about your side without giving anything away that they don't already know, and acting knowledgeable about them to see if you pick up any information. Each object tried to make some statement, some knowledge. Everything had to represent something else. Nothing was just beautiful or just dangerous. We were at peace, Serenity was truly a wonderful Queen, but it didn't mean that there weren't flare-ups. And information shared with the Marsian government may not be the same as the Neptunian government."

"Just you talking about it gives me a headache."

"Oh, you hated history with a passion. But you were a good diplomat. Amazingly good. Your mother was proud of how you settled things and how you brought your Senshi together. Yours were bound by friendship and trust. Hers were bound by necessity and duty."

"I wish they didn't have the sense of duty that they have for me."

"Its not duty. You know its love."

She sat up and Luna fell into her lap. Even though her bones almost hurt from exhaustion, She held her brooch out towards the castle and pink light cascaded from it. In the distance shimmered the front of the palace, appeared. Luna gasped. "That is…amazing.

"It's all I can do for the night. Its beautiful, but exhausting. When I finish, I'll have to bring the Senshi. All of them"

"It is a starting point to a new future."

Usagi shook her head. "Luna, lets just go home."


	2. A Relic in its Graveyard

Usagi was listless. She wondered around between her home and the arcade, almost getting to one then turning around and watching her feet as they moved in front of one and the other down the sidewalk. Thoughts raced through her mind, swirling with what ifs and the consequences of her actions. The castle was done. There had been a monster yesterday too. The crystal had yanked her from her deep sleep and transported her there with no warning. It was relatively easy to destroy, but it looked like it was simply there scouting the area and not to fight. She didn't want to break the relaxation that had fallen on the Senshi; the freedom that they had that they hadn't had time to cherish. A promise to go to a movie at five and knowing that there wasn't going to be a problem where they would have to go fight. There were people, just normal people they could hang out with. Another enemy meant giving all that freedom back up. Minako was dating a cute American exchange student by the name of Franklin, a brilliant cheery man that complemented her well. Haruka and Michiru were doing, well Haruka and Michiru things. They were currently in Kobe doing a few concerts and vacationing. Makoto had started teaching a part time karate class for young children and loved it. Rei had more time for temple duties and Ami, suddenly found herself with free time to pick up an extra course, and was ahead of her class by leaps and bounds. She was about to destroy all that. Remind them of their duty, force them to give up such precious things.

For her kingdoms secrets.

"Usako!" His deep voice made her grin despite the things in her head.

"Mamo-chan! I thought that you were meeting someone for lunch."

He shrugged and ran his hand through his thick black hair. "He canceled, besides, I wanted to catch up with you. You didn't answer the phone this morning when I called."

"Sorry, I was exhausted."

"Usako, did you transform last night?" His voice was hushed, and there was concern in his eyes.

"Yeah, it wasn't a big deal, I just got startled then ran out on the rooftops for a while to get my energy down." She shrugged staring at the cracks in the sidewalk beneath her feet.

"I went looking for you and couldn't find you. The feeling I get … you felt so far away, it worried me." His head tilted towards her with those blue eyes that melted her soul every time. She just couldn't lie to him.

"I…Mamo-chan" She just buried her head into his black shirt, breathing in deep and leaning into him. "There was a monster, but it wasn't here."

"Where? Usako, where did you go last night?" He held her warm body close.

"You can't tell the others, it isn't time, let them have their freedom." She looked up at him, adamant. He stroked her hair to comfort her.

"They don't mind giving those things up for you."

She pulled away and looked straight into his eyes. her face was set and she was determined. "They shouldn't have to! Please, don't tell the others!"

"Okay okay, I won't tell them on the terms that I go to every fight with you, and if it is overwhelming we call them immediately."

She pulled away and grabbed his hand in her own. They started walking to her house. "Pluto said that there are secrets buried…on the moon."

"The moon!"

"Not so loud. Yes, the moon. I've…the palace has been rebuilt. We have to find whatever the evil people, that Pluto gave me no information on, want before they do. If that makes sense."

"You…the palace is rebuilt? We know nothing of what were against?"

"Nope. Not at all. And yes, the palace is whole. Pluto may have warned the outer senshi, but as of now inner senshi know nothing of this."

It fell to silence as they walked in step. She pushed the small gate and entered her yard. They went inside and sat on the couch in their living room . No one was home. "Mamoru… It is startling to see it." She paused, trying to put her thoughts into words. "The crystal rebuilt everything that was there. Including things like broken swords, armor, there are no bodies, but, it's littered with pieces of war."

"Are you okay with all of this?"

She wasn't sure how to answer. "I went to where we saw my mother's, hologram or something. It was a message from when I first got the imperial silver crystal, what six years ago? It was also the spot where she died. Her ring was there and the chain that the crystal went on. I didn't come back for a long while. Besides, the gravity difference is just weird."

"Usako, let's go. For just a few minutes okay?"

"Stand up. And put your arms around me." She pulled him close with a little bit of a wiggle.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" She laughed.

A flash of light and an instant later they were standing on the moon's surface. Mamoru just made a circle looking at everything in shock.

At first he was facing just the distance of rubble and nothingness, and as he turned around he started seeing the more defined pieces of a once inhabited moon, and then he saw the palace, with behind it the glowing earth. He took a deep breath. The change of perspective was enough shock, and he felt like he had just been blown into the past. It was structurally as it was before, but there was no aura. No gardens, just various objects strewn about in front of it chaotic in placement as the palace's ending . It glowed, clean and white with golden and silver decorations adorning it. There was no light on the inside though, and everything around it was dark and bleak. It looked out of place really, just an old relic sitting in its graveyard.

"I haven't been inside. The crystal restored everything structural and everything metal. Its littered with objects from the past." She didn't loom on dark thoughts for long. She looked up at the Earth. "Its breathtaking isn't it?"

"It is. I remember looking at it in my dreams."

"As do I. I feel called here. Like the power within me feels at home, feels centered. I feel in harmony with me here. "

There was a bang. "You!" A gruff booming voice called demanding both of their attentions.

Usagi and Mamoru turned around. Usagi grabbed her brooch ready to call its power.

He stood in the darkness, only lit by earthlight that on him made an ominous outline of who he really was. He was tall, but his features shadowed. They could feel his eyes staring at them, analyzing everything he could of them while they did the same to him. He appeared unarmed, as did they. Deceptions were there.

"Who are you?" He bellowed, taking a step forward.

Usagi looked at Mamoru as if the words would appear if she looked at him, also for support of her reply. He held her hand as she spoke."I am the protector of this land."

"This land has not been trodden on in a thousand years!" The man took a step forward.

"And we have waited to protect it."

"Then it appears." The man paused, and his eyes blazed a piercing light blue. "That we are at odds." It looked like he was bending over to pick something up, and gold wings appeared on his back.

They transformed. Energy rushed through them. From 2 high schoolers to magical fighters- Tuxedo Kamen and Eternal Sailor Moon.

"I am the Senshi of this planet, the protector of its relics and the one who is sworn to this land. I will not let you fly here, trod here, or sightsee here ! In the name of the moon, you will be punished!"

He smirked from above them.

"I'll be back later!" He put his hands together and spread them apart, gold feathers fell down losing their glow to turn black. They coalesced together became a creature that looked like a cross between a humanoid and a hawk.

She looked at Tuxedo Mask. "Let's do this."

They barely won. After the monster turned into a fine dust Eternal Sailormoon slumped to the ground and took a deep breath. Her upper arm was bleeding and she sighed. Wiping the blood away with her gloves just made more of a mess. Just a cut though, nothing to major even though it hurt like hell.

Tuxedo mask had fared much better, he had more agility, even though the gravity difference had thrown him off. Fighting here much different, but somewhere inside him is was quite aware of how to fight on the moon. He watched as Eternal Sailor Moon's costume shimmered and formed Usagi's school uniform. He let his transformation go as well his formal wear changing back into black t-shirt and dark jeans.

He went and looked her arm, touching it gently. She grimaced, holding back tears. "It looks like you'll need a few stitches."

"It is fine!" she jerked her arm away.

"Let's go have Ami look at it at least."

"No, then I have to tell them…" Mamoru pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, like it kept it for just this type of occasion. He crouched down and carefully wrapped cloth around the wound to keep pressure on it. His hands were soft enough to give her goosebumps.

"Usagi, there is no way you're doing this on your own. Tomorrow afternoon call a meeting, or I will." He put his hand on her chin to maintain eye contact for emphasis. She tried to dart her eyes away. She knew he was serious. She relented.

"Okay, okay. Tomorrow at 5."

"Come on Usagi, we need to go home."

She looked up at him and took his hand as she stood up.

"Usagi?" He reached his hand to her forehead "Your crescent moon hasn't gone away."

"Whaaa?!" Her hands flew to her forehead. "What do you mean it's still there!" She rubbed it with her fists ferociously while jumping up and down. "Get it off! Get it off!"

Mamoru stepped back observing her panic, with a hesitant panicked look as he tried to figure out what to say. "Usako, I'm sure it will go away as soon as we get back to Earth." She stopped and looked at him. "It better, I can't see how I could explain this one off. Well, I got a shiny crescent moon tattooed on my forehead mom, yeah, that's what happened. Its Rei's fault, she got me high off temple incense!"

He laughed not only at her words but the wide eyed panicky look that she had adopted with her hands out wide. "If it doesn't go away you can hide it with makeup or something. I personally, think it looks beautiful on you, princess."

She blushed. She took his hand and light shimmered around them, and they disappeared for a moment, and suddenly they were in her familiar living room.

Unfortunately for Usagi, as she stared into her bedroom mirror a few hours later, the crescent moon was still golden and bright, smack in the middle of her forehead perfectly placed in between her blonde bangs. It shimmered as if to say 'look at me.' Her mother had called her to dinner twice, and was probably staring at her plate wondering what was wrong. Well, she was hungry, but it didn't matter how much concealer she put on, the crescent still shone through.

"Luna! How do I hide this thing?" She called out to her cat, lounging on a pink cushion on her bed.

"Can you wear a hat or a band-aid for now?"

"A band-aid! Luna, you are a brilliant cat!" She turned around, picked Luna up, who yowled, and kissed her furry forehead right on her tiny crescent moon, similar to her own. She ran to the hall closet, placed a band-aid over it and nearly leapt down the steps to get to her meal.

"Usagi," Her brother snickered "ran into another pole?"

She grabbed a roll off the table to throw it at him. "Oh shut up!"


	3. Reality Gives Headaches

Usagi leaned against the cool wall that surrounded the temple grounds. She glanced at her watch: 4:58 . She sighed loudly, this is not how she wanted to spend her Sunday afternoon. And to top it off, her hair felt weird. Tt made her feel even more awkward. She had worn a cap to hide the crescent moon, so her hair was in a tight French braid for the first time in ages. She wondered how this meeting was going to go, how the Senshi would react to it. Duty really failed at times. She didn’t want to call them on it, to tell them, your Senshi first. They all knew it, but freedom was truly enjoyable.

“She better be on time!” Rei grumbled. “She called this meeting.” Usagi peaked around the corner to see Rei glancing for her, long black hair blowing in the wind. Rei didn’t see her. Usagi just listened to their chatter, trying to keep her breath slow and calm.

“I had to leave my karate class early to get here at 5.” Makoto leaned against a column.

Her watch read 4:59. She played with the ring on a silver chain, the Queen’s wedding ring. Something had possessed her to put it on and wear it, and she found it calming to hold in her fingertips.

“Ooooh, she’s got one more minute before she’s late!”

“I’ll bet someone 500 yen that she’ll arrive at 5:10 or later!”

Makoto looked at Minako, “Okay, if she gets there before then, I get the yen!”

“Deal!” Minako and Makoto shook hands then sat on the steps scanning for her to come up.

Usagi leaned against the wall debating if she should walk up now or not; she didn’t want anyone to lose money over her “punctuality disorder.” Her watch read 5:00 even. Well, she had to go at some point, and stepped around the corner and headed up the tan temple steps. 

She could see Minako grumbling and grabbing some yen out of her purse and Makoto grinning at her. Rei looked at her watch with a right on time look, and Ami was absorbed in reading some book ignoring all the happenings around her.

“Usagi-chan! What did you do to your hair!” They chorused .

“I’ll explain in a minute, calm down, it is all still there.” She pulled the braid over her shoulder, which went well past her knees.

She plopped down on the steps, and took the blue baseball cap off and sat it on the ground.

The crescent moon was bright on her forehead and had a shimmer from the sun reflecting off of it. Minako walked up and tried to rub it off with her thumb. “Usagi, it isn’t coming off.”

“If it was going to come off I wouldn’t have worn a stupid baseball cap all day!”

“Why is it there?” Ami leaned to look at it as if she was analyzing Usagi’s forehead. She was glad she had a nice completion.

“Because.” She paused, thinking of a way to word it without dropping it all on their laps “there was this ummm flash of light, and I found myself on the moon, and then there was this monster thing, and the palace appeared and Pluto said there was a villain on the way, and we saw him yesterday and somewhere in this my crescent moon appeared and it won’t come off!” Usagi sighed; she just screwed suitability. Of course, in light of the whole situation, the crescent moon was the most important, not the evils of the galaxy that wanted to take over the Earth.

“On the moon?”, “Pluto said?”, “villain?”,”the palace” “monster thing?” Was said all at the same time and not distinguishable. And then Luna chastised, “Usagi! That was the worst explanation you could have given!”

“Gee, thanks Luna.” She looked down at her cat advisor while sticking out her tounge.

“Now, go through it and explain it slowly.” 

She took a deep breath and explained the whole thing in detail.

“The question is what do we do about it now?” Rei paused, “the moon isn’t exactly our next door neighbor.” 

“We need to find whatever we’re looking for and bring it back here.” Ami pointed out the obvious.

“How do we find something in a palace that we don’t even know what it is!”

“You ask me.” Setsuna stepped out of the shadows and the five girls jumped and turned around with “We hate it when you do that!”

“I don’t know where it is, just that at the time of the destruction of the Moon Kingdom, Queen Serenity had gained possession of it. She hid it, because she felt it was too dangerous for anyone to use. The legend goes like this:”

At the beginning of the Universe there were four forces that were spread out. Love, hate, peace and chaos. All other emotion stemmed from these four things. We already know about Chaos and what that causes. When love or hate become concentrated, it forms a tyldran, it looks like a pearl either black or white, to rebalance the Universe. These are so concentrated, that very few have been made in the galaxy, and most have been destroyed and dispersed through a large area causing little problems. However, there was a war. Where a tyldran- shattered in a populated area of the moon kingdom, and it turned everyone on eachother. Within a matter of minutes there was a civil war.

The enemy had two of these black tyldrans. The other was captured and hidden deep within the kingdom so it could not be broken. The war was ended when the Senshi of Fire, forged a white Tyldran, giving her life to save the kingdom she believed in. No one knows exactly how she forged it, or if a black Tyldran can be forged. Right now, with the release of chaos, a balance of love and hate has been reached, and most of the Tyldrans have dispersed without a problem. Serenity however, without a way to send it beyond the galaxy placed a spell on it to keep it from dispersing. It may be the only black Tyldran left in the galaxy. Earth’s evil is nothing compared to what a black Tyldran holds.

“If the enemy finds it, and destroys it near or on the earth, it could mean possible destruction of this planet. It is imperative that we protect the castle and find the Tyldran as fast as we can, so we can disperse it in space without causing harm to those around it.”

“Okay, oh wise Pluto.” Rei was giving a skeptical look to her, “what do we do now?”

“We set up a watch system, and a warning system.”

Luna jumped on Usagi’s shoulder. “I can show Usagi how to build a transportation system gateway between here and the palace, and give each of you a key. It will require little energy.”

“How do we set up watch? We can’t have 12 hour shifts, we’re all school students.” Makoto flipped a coin.

“And college exams are coming up in a month.” They all looked at Ami with a grimace. “Don’t remind us.”

“I’ll talk to the outers, and get them to watch and look during the daytime, and at night you’ll have to organize what days you alternate watching. Usagi, you need to work on the transport gate with Luna. Somebody should watch tonight and Haruka or Michiru will meet you in there morning.” With those orders, Sestuna turned around and entered the gate of time.

“I guess I’m watching tonight.” Usagi grumbled, “I got to make the transport gate thing anyway.” She stood up and placed her cap back on. “I’m going to go grab a bite to eat and tell my mother that I’m going to be out. See you at school tomorrow.”

Later that night Usagi was sitting on her bed. “Lunaaaaaaaa,” She whined “I don’t wanna stay up all night.”

“Well, Usagi, you don’t really have a choice. Come on, grab your coffee and let’s get there. “Okay, Okay, I’m coming.”

They teleported. It was the same scenery as before, nothing had changed. There was a slight breeze. Usagi looked down at Luna. “Well, let’s go inside and see what it looks like.”

“Usagi, be careful not to step on anything sharp.”

She nodded, and walked slowly, trying to avoid the scattered swords from a forgotten army. After a few minutes, they made it to a large oak door. It had a beautiful white gold inscription on it, in curly smooth letters.

“Okay, Luna, how do we get in?”

“Just hold your brooch to the door and it will open.” She did and the doors opened inward to the palace.

“Wow.” Memories, no matter how detailed and real they seemed, could compare to standing in the front of the throne room. The air was stale. The polished marble floor was littered jewelry from people who no longer existed, more signs that this was once an active and alive kingdom. Everything drew attention to the center of the room was a dais, marble steps up to a chair, set in silver with inscribed gold markings. The planets were visible though a magic ceiling projection, and the space around them. The columns looked like carved ivory, intricate designs of flowers spiraled to the ceiling. The place had its own aura and soft light, and it seemed drawn towards the throne. Placed on the walls were elaborate tapestries depicting the nine planets and their civilizations. The inscribed words “For Peace and Unity may the Senshi Protect us all” were above the throne. Luna and Usagi took one step in, her shoes clicking and echoing along the corridor. It felt like a ghost town.

Usagi bent down, she could see her faded reflection in the white parts of the swirled marble. She picked up a small gold chain off the floor. It had a beautiful charm on it, it looked like a deep red garnet surrounded by rubies. She raised herself back up.

“Luna, this, all of these things belonged to people.”

Luna just observed, her memory playing back when Queen Serenity sat in that chair, her eyes that calm grey silver, her painted fingernails tapping on the mahogany arm rests in contemplation.

Usagi let the gold chain fall back to the floor with a ting. Something about this, the littered jewelry, the absence of people, the stale air, and the delicate beauty combined made her feel sick. “Luna, I want out of this room.”

Luna shook her head out of memories. “Follow me.” Luna tried to run forward, and remembered why she hated this room so much; she had no traction. Usagi laughed as Luna got a step or two then started sliding. She picked Luna up. “This is why she always carried you huh?”

“These halls were not made for cats and traction.”

“Where to go?”

Luna directed her through a maze of hallways until they were at the transportation room. “Luna, I am very thankful your memory is better than mine.”

“There are reasons for that.” Her voice was quiet and she looked away from Usagi’s face and jumped off her shoulder.

“What, what do you mean?”

“Just know, things are never what they seem. And they never were, even in times of peace. And no matter how much power your mother had, some things just never change.” She sat in front of a large door that led into the transportation room.

“It is quite simple to do…” And began describing the steps of magic needed to make the transportation keys that would transport the senshi to the room.

Luna and Usagi talked about the palace. There was a blue line border in every room of the castle and when the castle or its inhabitants were in danger, the line would change to red, a suitable but convenient warning system that came in handy, especially when they were the only two beings on the moon.

Usagi was sitting on the cool floor in the throne room, petting Luna in her lap. Luna had fallen asleep at some point and she just stroked the kitty as thoughts of the palace ran through her head. She wasn’t sure where to begin the search for the Tyldran. It could be anywhere. The queen would not have put it in a velvet box, and place it in the center of the room with a convenient metal label like a museum. The palace was gigantic, and she was certain there were hidden rooms that even she, if she had all her memories, and Luna didn’t know about. It perplexed her; it felt the more she remembered the less she understood. The remnants of this land and the people bothered her. It was settling on her heart, that this was real. She had been Sailormoon, she’d fought many battles for Earth, and always said in the name of the moon, because it felt right. This was why. This is what had been lost and this is where she had lived the 20 years as a princess.

Princess. She hated that word.

“Hey! Odango!”

Usagi jumped up, Luna tumbling to the floor with a sleepy and shocked mroww!

“Haruka-san! Michiru-san!” Usagi turned with a glare to the smirking face of the taller women. She had an arm around Michiru who was also chucking at Usagi’s expression. Usagi sputtered for a second. “It’s morning already?”

“It is about 6 am. We figured you could go grab breakfast before school started, and maybe something for lunch. Besides, we have a problem.”

“A problem?”

“We were informed by a little birdy that on the seven o’clock news they are going to broadcast telescope and satellite pictures of the moon kingdom. It is not a secret anymore. The whole world knows that this place exists. “

“The whole world?”

Usagi’s head just started hurting.


	4. Resistance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Koneko means kitten

 

Usagi made it to her classroom early, placing her black bag by her desk. Usagi had adopted a permanent band-aid on her head to hide her crescent moon between her blonde bangs. It made her feel like she was wearing proof of her clumsiness, and made her hyper aware of her face. Aiyako, also called Koneko, sat on Usagi's desk, her long black hair back in a loose ponytail. Her legs were crossed because of her blue school uniform skirt, but she still swung them with energy.

"Did ya hear?"

Who hadn't heard, Usagi thought grimly, but she smiled with exuberance. "Yes, I have! What do you think?"

Koneko scratched her head with her long fingernails and stretched. She had the nickname for a reason. "Well, I think there are aliens and they are setting up a base to watch us!"

Usagi raised an eyebrow, and probed her more for fun. Might as well pretend. "Aliens? I wonder what they'd look like?" After the words came out of her mouth it was scary to her all of a sudden. She was the alien. She was the one that was not from this planet. Suddenly she felt very awkward. The bandaid didn't help.

"I'll bet they'll be slender! And they'll have kitty ears and features and like catnip a lot."

"Just like you except more furry right?"

Koneko threw her head back laughed, her brown eyes alight with a joy and mischief . Usagi wished she could have that simplistic look on life. She was sure she once had that outlook on life.

"Yep!" Koneko followed with an imitation of a meow. She hopped off the desk and went on to talk to someone else. Usagi sighed, all the people she had finally had time to build relationships because of the peace were going to become instantly more distant. Koneko was one of those people who just brought smiles to her face- it made her feel normal. Minako walked in the room followed by Ami and Makoto. Usagi waved them over.

"You're early!" Looks of surprize.

Usagi rolled her eyes and yawned "Haruka-san and Michiru-san arrived at 6 am. I got away around 7."

Minako placed her bag down by Usagi's. "You heard the news?"

"Don't remind me. Here are your keys." She handed out the mini gold keys, small enough to be necklace pendants. She had a thin golden chain for them to rest on. "Be careful, they're antiques." She giggled. Makoto looked at the chain. "Impressive actually. Will you clasp it?"

"Yeah, turn around." Usagi moved away her brown ponytail and placed it on the taller woman's neck while Minako helped Ami and then managed her own by herself.

Ami looked at her. "Do you need one?"

She shook her head. "We'll talk about this later. They are some interesting theories going on."

Minako gave Usagi a look. "The spooky evil people of the Moon Castle are going to come back with green monsters and throw dumplings at us!" She did a whole enactment, including tugging on Usagi's hair as a semblance of the monster coming after them.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." She gave a glare towards her batting away her hand playfully. Tanaka-sensei walked into the room, everyone became quiet and class began. Not that Usagi could focus. She kept side eyeing Minako, Makoto and Ami. Ami would try to ignore her as her antics got a little more attention grabbing. The blue haired girl would eventually stare, politely point to the textbook they were suppose to be following along with, and Usagi would roll her eyes. Tanaka Sensei, who had been with the girls for far too long, allowed Ami to regulate Usagi instead of stopping class time.

At lunch, everyone was listening to the radio in the classroom. It rambled on about details of the suddenly appearing castle. Usagi just didn't want to be a part of any monotonous professional japanese broadcaster's speculations. She felt vulnerable when they were talking about her...former home like that. They couldn't imagine what the truth was.

The Radio went on "...and on Tokyo News later tonight there will be a broadcast of pictures of what they believe to be a humanoid life form walking on the moon! Close up pictures of the alien woman, the moon being that appeared out of nowhere."

Usagi back went straight, her whole body tensed. She hadn't been transformed. She'd been on the moon, why even bother to transform? Panic set in. She grabbed Minako, Ami, and Makoto and headed to the girl's bathroom.

"What are we going to do?"

"They can't identify it as you silly" Minako tried to calm her.

"I was untransformed, walking on the moon! I can't just walk in here tomorrow, everyone will recognize me!"

Makoto looked at Ami. "They don't make telescopes that can see that detailed…right?"

Ami looked down, lips thin. "They do." She paused letting it sink in. "They could probably zoom in on Usagi's watch and see what time it was set too."

Usagi took a step back and leaned against the wall. As she was thinking her knees gave out she slid to the cold tile floor, blankly staring into space. This couldn't be happening.

It just couldn't. Everything blown. Poof. It was incomprehensible. All her secrets. Thousands of secrets.

"Usagi!" Minako shook her shoulders. Usagi stared blankly at the ends of Minako's long hair, not even bothering to look up. "Let me help you off the floor!"

Usagi sighed and took Minako's hand, being pulled up to stand eye to eye with her close friend. Minako looked serious, locking her gaze "Go home. Tell your parents. Get prepared. You are our Princess." The loyalty shown, the severity of the situation. She squeezed Usagi's shoulder in comfort. The other girls nodded in agreement.

Tonight everything changed.

* * *

 

Left at the palace with a disgruntled cat and little knowledge, Haruka and Michiru stood in the throne room. They needed to stay indoors to avoid being spotted by the telescope that was apparently aimed at the palace.

"Where do we start looking for this thing?" Haruka looked at her partner.

"We need a map of who's looked where, once we get into this. Make a note of where we look."

They nodded to each other. Michiru pulled out a small notebook and pen she kept in her small purse.

"Always prepared, I see." Michiru swatted her gently. "The Quarters. We'll start with our Quarters and go from there."

Theirs first. Haruka tried to search her mind to what the room was like, what was in there. She had few memories, but the place was breathtaking and gave her a distinct feeling of deja vu . She knew these walls, these steps, the hum of the place, the innate power that lay on this ground. The power their princess tapped.

Michiru knelt down and picked up Luna. She nuzzled against her neck, pushing wavy aqua hair out of the way. Michiru laughed. "Luna, you're being friendly."

Luna purred.

"Be careful 'Ruka might get jealous."

"I would not!" Michiru gave that lovers smile and they headed towards their quarters.

* * *

 

Usagi was also heading towards her bedroom. Her parents, somehow both home from work, had scoffed at her skipping school and started yelling as she'd ran up to her bedroom as fast as she could to collect herself. Now that she'd made it into her room, she plopped on the bed, catching her breath just to bounce back up and pace. She knew downstairs were her parents, sitting on the couch discussing reasons why her daughter- already struggling in school- came running in the door, apologized before they could get a word out of her and disappeared up into her bedroom.

She could hear the words of her father in head head 'She can't stay this irresponsible.' She had to pass high school and continue with her education. 'School is important.' They were exasperated with her, but then again, they had been exasperated with her and her schoolwork sense she was in elementary school.

Usagi stepped out of her room and took a deep breath from the top of the steps. There were 16 steps until the first floor and then maybe 10 steps to be in front of her parents. 26 steps until her doom she calculated.

Usagi has faced demons, witches, even chaos herself. And her heart sank and hurt just as much as any of those times. She loved them, they were her parents as much as Serenity was her past mother. But she was about to admit, that for five years she had been hiding her entire life, putting up a façade and putting herself in danger. That she, was the one her little brother talked about sometimes, the superhero that somehow saved them from danger over and over again.

She didn't want to face that "why didn't you tell us sooner look."

She had 26 steps until it.

* * *

 

The steps to the quarters seemed to go on forever.

"Luna, how long exactly is this?" Michiru asked the cat on her shoulder.

Luna laughed quietly. "You requested privacy while you were here. This was relaxed compared to your guard, and if your past selves are like your presents selves. You can fill in the blanks."

"So Serenity granted us a room with a hell of a lot of stairs, because no one else would drag their butts up here." Haruka complained.

Michiru and Haruka passed a look, and Haruka went "oh."

Luna just shook her head, these two made quite a pair. The reached the top of the stairs. This room was at the end of the castle, and it appeared, the farthest one above, like it had been added just for them. She had a feeling it had.

Haruka reached out to the golden handle. She could feel it hum, as if it was detecting who she was. She pushed the heavy wood door forward and just stared.

This certainly was not what she was expecting.

* * *

 

This was exactly what Usagi was expecting.

Ikuko and Kenji were giving her the parental displeased glare. The one that had made her melt and go 'I'm sorry and want to make everything better that second.'

Kenji's face hardened. The judgment face. "You better tell exactly why you are not at school and it better be a good reason."

For some reason, Usagi knew that I'm the princess of the moon kingdom, just wouldn't go over well. But it was the only thing she could think of. She took a deep breath.

"I'm the princess of the moon."

"Usagi Tsukino!" Her mother's voice snapped her to attention. "You better start telling the truth quick. The media is no excuse you should..."

She sighed resignedly. Show and tell worked better in this situation. She closed her eyes and let the power come over her. First, there was tingle in her palms that made a warm silver light that quickly grew and engulfed her body. She could feel its tendrils make her dress, and settle back within her heart. The band-aid fell of her forehead to the floor. She stood as the Princess in all her glory. A little taller, a little more mature, she mused. She always felt strangely calm and collected. "I am the Princess of the moon." She repeated again, her voice sounded more melodic and she stood up straighter, the dress falling around her legs as if in an invisible wind.

"Oh." Her mother breathed slightly, as if the shock pushed all the air out of her. Kenji stared, his face set in stone. It just couldn't set in. Princess Usagi paused for a moment.

"Tonight, at seven I'm sure as you know they are showing a picture of a being on the moon." That was something Kenji could respond to. He couldn't respond to the fact that this composed beautiful women had been his daughter forty seconds ago.

He nodded. Words just wouldn't come. Usagi let the power of Serenity leave her, let it flow away like an ocean's tide. She stood there, the schoolgirl, the daughter of Kenji and Ikuko, with the bad grades, simply the unrefined girl they'd always knew.

She stared at her black school shoes. She couldn't meet their eyes.

* * *

 

Haruka and Michiru could not believe their eyes.

The room was perfect. The collection of aqua and deep blue tapestries, silks, candles, pillows and bedding all together in a flowing gold accents. It smelled of distinctly of sea breeze, distinctly of Michiru. Everything looked untouched, as if, yesterday they had been here. A strewn bra was on the floor. The bed was gorgeous, one she had always dreamed of. A dark cherry four-poster bed, with royal blue silk sheets, and silk down comforter with scattered pillows that looked inviting, like she could just fall into it and sleep so peacefully. The silver bed stand had two candles, one that had half the wax had melted down, but the other a sky-blue wave, beautifully carved and so detailed it was as if she could see the sunlight filtering through the wax wave. She wondered if she would ever use that candle.

Haruka, as she took in a breath, found herself lost in memories.

Haruka standing in front of Michiru, who was sitting on the bed, with that serious talk look she could always recognize. Aqua hair framed her face, a few stands falling in front of her eyes. She was worried. The room had transformed into something more distinctly Michiru, hues of blues, paintings of sunsets. There were no gold accents.

"No, really it's okay." Michiru's voice was reassuring. "You want to sleep here, you're more than welcome."

"I…" she started, looking down at the wood floors. She felt something, awkward, maybe even shy.

"You're a Senshi. Why would I care?" Princess Michiru shrugged.

Haruka voice was angry, firey. "No. I'm NOT a Senshi. They..." Her voice dropped "took that from me. Didn't Serenity explain?"

Michiru looked up at her sadly. "No one can. It is your birthright." Her fists clung to the silk sheets.

"My father sure did. I am the only child to a male dominant line! I am..."

"Queen Serenity..." Haruka interrupted her.

"The damage can't just..."

"Haruka!" Michiru's voice pulled her out of the memory. "Wha..."

The blue line border was now a brilliant red.

* * *

 

Usagi still didn't know what to say, and her shoes were a lot easier to look at than her parents expressions. She heard a faint ring from her watch. She looked at it, thankful for the distraction. She ignored her parents. "Usagi here."

"Got monsters, get up here." Michiru's voice was hurried. "Get the others" She could hear Haruka summon an attack in the background.

"Usagi?" Ikuko asked.

"One second mom." She muttered, and clicked the watch. "Okay, guys, we got a battle."

In a single breath she muttered "Oh, mom and dad, I'm also Sailormoon. Got to go." She did her second performative transformation of the day, allowing the power to whisk away simplicity and bring in beauty and power. She stood there, eternal Sailormoon, wings taking up far too much space in the livingroom. She looked their shocked expressions, gave a shrug and disappeared to the moon.

Rei complained over the link that she hadn't received her key. They couldn't do anything about it now, besides this whole spectacle was probably on live television. Usagi had to remember to focus; this was battle.

There were four of the monsters, slender bird humanoid mixes throwing various amounts of dark energy at them.

Melee.

The six of them in front of the castle, willing to give their lives to protect what was inside.

This was a different type of battlefield, it was just open ruins. There were no buildings, no visible markings. This was it. Their land, long ago crumbled. They stood tall, feet steady on the ground, littered with remnants of previous battles before. A constant reminder that this was a life and death situation.

Sailor Neptune and Uranus had separate one from their pack, vaporizing it with a combination attack of their powerful spheres, then quickly turned to help the others. Sailormoon stood back, not sure on what to do considering the Senshi were destroying them by themselves. She threw her honeymoon starlight kiss, destroying one. Her power was stronger here, she wondered if the other Senshi's were too.

It evaporated the last creature into dust and they stood, looking at each other for a moment taking in the surroundings each of their senses heightened by the battle.

"That wasn't so bad." Sailor Venus assessed, checking herself for any minor injury. Sailor Jupiter had stepped on some sharp object and Sailor Mercury was already tending to the wound.

"We'll meet at the temple just to see how bad this broadcast is going to be." Makoto grimaced as Mercury sprayed a mini blast of water into her wound. They needed to watch it together. Usagi nodded. She needed them behind her.

The inner senshi nodded and teleported back to the places that they had left.

Sailor Uranus and Neptune looked at each other. They had another two hours until their watch ended. Uranus gave Neptune this daring, are you thinking what I'm thinking look. Neptune grinned, and took off running. "I'll beat you there!"

"You'll never beat the wind!" and took off in a sprint.

Two hours later, Luna sat dismally waiting for Rei to show up for her watch. Michiru had given the kitty a polite "this is a private moment" and lead her out the door. So, she was stuck, by herself waiting for Rei to come give her company, and relieve the other Senshi of their 'duty'.

Rei appeared finally.

"Where are Haruka and Michiru?" She asked out of curiosity.

Luna gave her best-displeased look. "In their quarters."

"Should I go..."

"No. They'll leave when they are ready."

Rei gave a smirk. "I'm suppose to go back to watch the broadcast in an hour. I think Pluto has this place covered with Hotaru-chan"

"Well, we can always go through this room thoroughly and see if we can find anything."

* * *

 

Sailormoon reappeared in her bedroom, with "oomph" as Earth gravity set in and suddenly and was 40 pounds heavier than 10 seconds ago. The wings were no help. She let the power fall off her body, and then fell on her bed. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting herself be comfortable as her mind ran faster than any sports car. She was sure the shock hadn't worn off her family yet, when she found out she was sailormoon it took weeks for the 'oh yeah, I'm sailormoon' to stop and it become a fact. And the princess part. She didn't even believe it sometimes, and she was expecting two people, who hadn't had any of the experiences she had to take it with ease. They never would. She banged her head against the pillow, grabbing her hair with a dramatic 'ugh!'

She remembered Minako standing there, what, not even three hours ago, 'go tell your parents.' She wished she had that strength that Minako had. She made it sound so easy. Eventually she mustered up the courage, took a deep breath, and headed back down the stairs.

Ikuko and Kenji looked up as they heard her slow steps down the stairs. She turned the corner, her head faced downward. The beautiful golden hair trailed her limply as if it was mirroring her emotions.

"Welcome back." Ikuko said cheerfulness forced. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Everything went pretty easy." The everything was understood. She plopped down in a recliner.

"So…"Kenji looked at his daughter analyzing the young women as if for the first time. "Are there any other secrets you need to tell us?"

She shrugged. It been a long five years and no one was going to get all of it out of her. "Besides the fact Luna speaks, I think that's it on secrets."

"Luna? Your cat?" Ikuko didn't even look surprised anymore. It just hit her with a finality. This day had been too long so far. "Yeah. She's pretty smart."

"No wonder she is so responsive." Kenji paused, "Where is she now?"

"On the moon. She's helping Haruka-san and Michiru-san try and find...oh, never mind."

Her mother looked at her in interest. "Haruka-san and Michiru-san?"

"Yes."

"As in Haruka Tenou and Michiru Kaioh, the pianist and violinist? The people performing on the CD I play while I'm cooking? Who also is a famous race car driver? That couple?"

"Yes. They are Senshi."

"Oh my."

Haruka and Michiru got the 'oh my' while she got the 'oh.' They should be flattered Usagi thought amusedly.

"At seven o'clock they are releasing footage of me walking on the moon in my school uniform." She paused "I just wanted to prepare you."

"Usagi, why didn't you tell us sooner?"

There it was. The question.

"I couldn't afford to put you in danger while I was fighting. If you knew, if someone came after you, the less you knew the better." She shrugged "It also kept you from worrying about me so much. Every time I left, you didn't know if I was fighting some galactic evil. If you did you would always have been in a state of panic." That sounded a whole lot better than Usagi had been expecting.

"Usagi, but" Ikuko looked at her daughter sadly "I would have rather known, and been able to help you, than not have known and lost you anyway."

"Momma..." Usagi started crying. "I wanted to tell you so many times and wanted to apologize for so many things, and I'm sorry it had to come about like this…" She sniffed. "I...would like you to come with me, and meet all the Senshi formerly. We're going to be watching the newscast together at 7 at Rei's. I...want this because, they. They are the ones who have kept me alive, and I want you to meet them as people who are very special to me. I want you to know that with them, I am the safest I will ever be." Usagi fiddled with the ring on its chain. She looked down, half wondering where these things were coming from. It was so true, but, she never had imagined it going like this. She looked at the ring, it had a platinum type metal band, with a moonstone and opal delicately carved rose with a diamond set it the middle. Inscribed inside in Lunarian was "Our love knows no bounds."

Ikuko looked at Kenji, who had stayed silent the entire talk so far. "We'll go with you at seven."

She fiddled with the ring a little more. She took it off, and walked the distance between the recliner and the couch. "I...I'd like you to have this." She handed the ring to her mother. "It was the Queen of the Moon Kingdom, my mother from...my past life. It's a long story." She sighed, that can of worms was complicated. "I just want you to have it to know that even though I've had a past life, that I'm Sailormoon, a princess of a different kingdom, that you are very important to me, and the only mother I've had in this life. And a reminder I will always love you, no matter how bizarre my life gets."

She turned to her father. "And you aren't so bad yourself."


	5. A Desire to be Brave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I use hajimemashite instead of nice to meet you, because hajimemashite is more formal, and implies the beginning of a relationship with someone.

 

On the long walk to the temple, Usagi and her parents heard muttering about the newscast that was going to happen. It was around 6:30 when they finally climbed the multitude of tan steps of the tranquil temple. The news media had chosen a specific time of 7:00 to broadcast to help hype ratings, and capture the audience about the world changing issue that suddenly appeared. Earth suddenly wasn't alone in the universe, they had a whole castle to prove it, AND a Japanese school girl walking on the moon.

There were thirty minutes until the entire nation knew.

Usagi, out of nervous habit, fingered the cool silver chain that rested around her neck. She tried to remind herself to breathe deeply, though it didn't really work. The six senshi plus a small Hotaru maybe 6 years old, Usagi, and her parents all crammed themselves into Rei's bedroom. It was spacious, but not that spacious. The TV sat on a small rickety wooden stand, that seemed haphazardly placed and rarely touched.

Makoto had pushed over a pile of papers on her desk and adopted it as her sitting spot.

"Calculus?" Makoto asked, looking a the math homework scattered on top half completed. Rei moaned "Don't remind me."

"I remember doing that…" Michiru looked at Haruka. "We had interesting times in that class."

Haruka grinned, "Bunnies."

Usagi looked at them, "What in the world do bunnies have to do with Calculus?"

"Two Bunnies, plus one lawnchair and a 6 pack is essentially the observation of the fibonacci sequence...Don't ask Usagi-chan."

Ami  started laughing. When everyone looked at her giggles, she shrugged. “I appreciate a good math explanation! In that sequence every number is the sum of the current and previous integers. Two bunnies make a third, three bunnies make 5, 5 bunnies make 8…provided the bunnies live forever, of course. Calculus is all about calculating a number on any sequence without working your way up to it.”

“That’s enough math Ami.” Rei stuck her tongue out at Ami.

Ikuko smiled. They sounded like normal teenagers. Ikuko was still attempting to process that their whole world was different, and that they had been busy for years saving the world. Kenji and her were noticed, but not introduced, and it seemed they were a little tense with them in the room. Haruka, the tall boyish blonde would give them glances, a curious and analytical stare, but then turn her attention back to the small purple haired girl who was busy playing with a small toy. Rei had offered them tea and cakes, but aside from that hadn't talked to them, just like the rest of them. Ikuko assumed they were waiting for her to talk to them. She wondered if the girls were unsure of what she knew. She assumed that their world was always shrouded in mystery, and they’d been keeping this a secret for a long time.

She finally spoke "Usagi, are you going to introduce us?"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She turned around towards her mom. "Well, you have already met before, but this is Tsukino Ikuko and Tsukino Kenji, my parents. This afternoon they got the brief version of the last five years, and I figured they should meet you all more formally."

There was a chorus of "Hajimemashite Tsukino-san"

"I know you've met them before off and on, but I'll go through everybody again." Usagi stated to her parents. She was watching their facial expressions carefully, they both looked so neutral it was hard for Usagi to tell what they were thinking.

"Hino Rei, Sailor Mars the Senshi of Fire." Rei waved from where she was sitting on the floor.

"Kino Makoto, Sailor Jupiter, the sailor of nature."

And this continued until Mamoru.

"And finally Mamoru, Tuxedo Mask, and Prince of Earth."

"So, all of you have been protecting my daughter? And fighting to save the world? Even that little girl?" Ikuko asked gently.

"Yeah." Minako started "That's our job in a cashew shell."

"It's a nut shell Minako" Ami didn't even look up from her book.

"Right." Mikako rolled her eyes at the correction.

Michiru changed the direction of the conversation “Hotaru grows up very fast if needed. It is a long story. Sorry to just drop this on you, Tsukino-san. It is hard to believe- and we live it.”

“How do you manage this, and school, and everything else you do Michiru-san?”

She shrugged, tucking a piece of aqua hair behind her ear while glancing at Haruka. “I guess, it is just very little sleep.”

Ikuko raised an eyebrow. “Usagi-chan sleeps so much sometimes. Or at least I thought she did”

“Moooooom” Usagi whined, placing her hands over her own face.

"Shh! The newscast is about to start." Makoto directed the room. Rei fiddled with the TV volume control (the remote was lost a long time ago).

Everyone turned towards the television.

A balding man with a serious face started the broadcast. "There have been several sightings of beings walking on the moon itself, and near the palace that has been nicknamed by scientists: the crystal moon palace. The footage we are about to show you will shock you. The beings, two identified as humans in Tokyo, and two unidentified winged creatures were filmed by telescopes."

Images of the ground flashed on the screen. It was amazing how small everything looked compared to walking on the moon itself even though it was still a vast area of land. "Scientists are stumped to how this was hidden from view, and how it just appeared out of nowhere. In addition, the moon formed an atmosphere that has the same composition of the atmosphere on earth."

The camera scanned the area around the palace. Then, there Usagi was, walking along the path to the palace with Mamoru beside her. They were talking, and it was obviously a deep discussion by the facial expressions they both had holding hands. It was kind of freaky to see herself on television. And then the battle. The man, with the blonde hair and ice blue eyes, standing in the shadows. Disappearing with the flap of large gold  wings. And the monster appearing after him.

Luna yelped.

Artemis jumped off Minako's shoulder and sprinted towards the screen.

"Is that?" Luna looked at Artemis for confirmation.

"I…I think it was." Artemis had the grim-kitty look in his green eyes.  Minako cut the cats discussion off with, "Okay you two. Cut it with the vague talk and tell us what's going on." The newscast went on rambling about speculations and the girls ignored it.

Luna answered quickly, "That man who disappeared is a banished king." Even to her it sounded like she was holding things back. Luna was glad that a cat's face could bluff a lot better than a human's.

"King? From where?" Michiru asked glancing at Haruka. Haruka was still staring at the screen beyond Luna and Artemis and not following as closely as she normally did.

Artemis answered. "A province of some planet, I can't remember which. He started a civil war."

Withholding some of the truth was better than an all out lie, wasn't it?

Luna added "He was known for how he tortured his victims. The second Serenity came into power he was banished from…"

Haruka interrupted her "The news cast behind you just said they had identified the two Japanese people who were spotted on the moon, and they were withholding all other details until an investigation could be put forth."

"How…" Usagi’s face went pale.

"You were wearing your school uniform. They probably have very detailed pictures that they are not releasing that they had pinpointed you to here." Ami said.

Makoto followed up quickly "The question is, what do we do with you? Do you stay on the moon, do we bodyguard you until you finish the semester of school?”

Luna jumped off the table over to her charge. Looking up she said “Usagi, the secret is out. What do you want to do?"

"I…I want to be brave. I definitely don't want to go hide on the moon because of who I am."

Makoto got off Rei's desk. "We're behind you then. We can protect you. They know your Sailormoon, they know we are the senshi by association. Tomorrow will be the hardest day, but It can be done."

"Together." Usagi emphasized. "We can do this. Together."

“Usagi-chan?” Kenji asked, speaking for the first time since they had arrived.

“Yes, papa?”

“Do we need to do anything?”

“Just stay out of the media’s way, I guess.” Usagi shrugged. She didn’t realize that they were about to become involved in a way she’d never even considered.

Rei looked at the two parents who stood closely next to each other, scanning the room. “We’ll protect you too if needed.”

Michiru added “You can always stay at our place if it becomes too much. We have room.” She glanced back at Haruka, who nodded distractedly. Hotaru perked up from where she was sitting on the floor, large purple eyes staring at her mother. “Michiru-mama? Yes! Usagi-chan and her family can stay with us?” She grinned.

“Thank you for the offer, but we’ll figure it out.” Ikuko smiled. “After all, our daughter has been doing this stuff for years as a child. We’re adults, and we have our own property. We’d like to stay there.”

Usagi sighed loudly. “But Shingo. Tonight, I have to tell him before this all blows up.”

Usagi, Ikuko and Kenji all went back to the home, where Shingo had been staying. Over the last few years, he’d grown into a teenager. Still lanky, but taller almost matching Usagi in hieght, and surely would surpass her soon.

“Shingo, I have to tell you something.”

Shingo laughed. “What did you do now Usagi-chan?” He paused, seeing the serious expression on his parents faces. “Is everything okay?”

“It is. But, there’s something you should know. Did you watch the broadcast?”

“Who didn’t?!” He rolled his eyes.

“Shingo, I’m sailormoon.”

He threw his head back and laughed loudly. Usagi looked at her parents, as if they would intervene. They didn’t. She sighed, grabbed her Henshin stick and transformed.

His face went from mirth to shock. After the shining light had died down, and she stood there in her Fuku, with her wings and wand she teased “I’d like to formally say thank you for your admiration, little brother.”

He scowled, throwing a piece of clean laundry that was beside the living room couch. Sailor Moon caught it easily and let the transformation fall.

  



	6. Not a Fanclub or a Freakshow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cultural Note: They are seniors in high school, even though this is two years after Stars, because the high school system in Japan is a three-year system. In Japan the Students do not switch classrooms, the Teacher's switch, it's based on a number system to identify which class you are in.(or at least in the Sailormoon Anime that's how it was identified) so I name it the senshi's class first senior class (1-3) out of simplicity.

Haruka stared at Michiru in her sleep. She was curled on her side under the deep blue comforter, her chest rising and falling slowly in a tranquil manner. He head settled peacefully on a golden pillow, aqua wavy hair floating around her peaceful face. Haruka gently tucked a piece behind Michiru’s ear. She didn’t stir.

Haruka felt shaken, and she wasn't sure why. The winds weren't saying anything, positive or negative; it felt out of her control. Something was definitely wrong. It didn't help that when she did try to sleep, she had strange dreams of discussions that she was certain were from the Moon Kingdom. They swirled through her mind. One of them involved her talking directly to the queen and King and it perplexed her.

Haruka was wearing a classy white suit with golden buttons and blue dress shirt. She felt strangely formal, sword by her side. There she was, standing in the throne room, looking straight up at her Queen and King. The King, a tall slender man with wild blonde hair and piercing light blue eyes stared at her with a gaze that made her feel uncomfortable. She bowed as was formality.

"I am requesting that I leave the duty of protecting the Crystal to go to Uranus at once, to deal with the civil issues at hand."

"Princess Haruka, I feel it is dangerous for you to go at such a time. However, I understand the need for you to go to your planet." The Queen replied, looking at her husband to check to see if that was the answer he wanted.

"We know he is a tyrant…" Haruka began.

The King sat up straight. With a stern voice he spoke, "You will not treat the king of your planet in any sort of manner. If you question him, or me, I will personally strip you of your senshi powers and make a fool out of you, _Princess_." The way he spit out the word princess carried a disdain she wasn’t quite use to remember hearing in the Silver Millennium.

Haruka stared at him intently her fists tight with anger. The mockery he made of her status as a Princess and a Senshi. She gazed at the calm queen, who suddenly looked helpless on the matter. Her head fell.

Haruka watched as her past self acquiesced "I understand my liege." She walked out of the room. She could hear her heartbeat raised, and feel the tenseness in her body.

In the present moment, sitting on her bed, Haruka sighed. That man, the king, who was he? Suddenly, it dawned on her. The man, the blonde hair, the piercing eyes, it was the same as the villain on the newscast. The hair was shorter, and he had wings, but the stature was the same, the same cold stare, and chilling voice. Had Serenity looked afraid? Could it be, that Usagi's father was after them? That left thousands of unanswered questions.

Michiru rolled over in her sleep, and gazed at her with sleepy eyes. "'Ruka-chan, you need to get your sleep."

"But…"

"Sleep. It will rest until the morning."

Haruka sighed, laying down snuggling next to Michiru. She stared at the far wall, mind trying to piece together the past. Sleep did not come that night.

* * *

Morning came much too quickly for Tsukino Usagi. She clung to her bed like it was going to leave her, walk away and force her to face the morning. It wasn't her fault that her blanket was so warm, and the pillow so soft.

"Usagi-chan!" Luna called into her ear in a shrill, alarmed tone. She turned her head and glared at Luna who was about an inch from her nose.

"Do you know what time it is?" Usagi mumbled.

"Yes, I am quite aware that you need to get up NOW."

"Ugh." She rolled over unceremoniously, the blanket dropping to the floor. She stood up rubbed her eyes and heard from downstairs. "Usagi, your friends are here!"

"Luuunnaaa! Why didn't you wake me up sooner!"

A whirlwind and approximately five minutes later, an out of breath Usagi stormed down the stairs and into her living room with a "hi! Sorry I'm…"

"Usagi, you're right on time." Ami told her. "Luna set your clock 15 minutes ahead, and we arrived early." She looked tired; she was the one with Moon Duty last night.

She glared at all of them.

Her brother called out “Hey! It’s the Sailor Senshi!”

Usagi stared at her brother, fear about the day settling in. Ikuko gently reprimanded  Shingo “Shingo, don’t treat your sister’s friends like that.”

He huffed, still in his PJ’s, and then grinned. “It is okay, because I know I’ve beaten Sailor Moon in a fight or two!”

“Heeeey!” Usagi was about to chase him up the stairs, but Makoto grabbed her by the shoulder with lighting fast reflexes. “Don’t worry, we’ll get him later.” She said it in a low tone that she generally reserved for enemies, but with a smile on her face she reserved for friends. Usagi laughed.

"Okay Usagi. It is time to go." Ami directed the group.

It hit her like a wave. She was about to go outside into a world that knew their identities. She nodded, but she wasn't feeling very brave at all. In fact, she felt pretty nauseous and weak in the knees. Her Senshi were behind her. She focused on that.

    The walk to school was rather uneventful. Usagi had worn her hair in a French braid so she wouldn't attract as much attention. However, as soon as they reached the schoolyard everything changed.

"It's her!"

The Senshi formed a circle around her automatically. Rei raised her voice.

"Leave her alone."

"But she's Sailor moon!" One of them yelled. "She was on the moon!"

It suddenly seemed more like a fan club gathering than anything dangerous, but it was still overwhelming. A crowd of people herded around them, pushing the Senshi, screaming questions. They stayed silent as they made their way to the classroom. Usagi kept her head down, being scrutinized wasn't what she wanted by any means. Rei looked at Usagi.

"You know I got to go to school…" She said slowly, looking at her then at the door, as her classmates crowded around them and people streamed into the classroom.

"Rei, we'll be okay."

She smiled. "Usagi-chan. Be proud of where you come from. We are proud of that." She turned and tried to push her way through the crowd. Usagi got to her desk, slammed her black bag down and tried to take in what people were saying.

So many people talking, asking questions, and analyzing her. Minako was to her back, Ami on her left and Makoto on her right.

"STOP!" She yelled. She stood in a partial battle stance, legs wide hands in front of her as she leaned on her desk. The room immediately quieted. There were whispers here and there. "Leave us in peace! Yes, I am Sailormoon. Yes, I was on the moon. Yes, there are millions of things you don't know and you won't know them any time soon."

"How long have you been sailormoon?" Someone yelled over the silent crowd and everything became roar. So many people. So many curious faces, no one had malice, no one was shunning her, it was just a mass of curious amazed people who didn't know anything.

Was this how the Starlights felt?

Tanaka-sensei slammed his teacher's book on his desk, which caused Usagi to almost start to transform. "Class is beginning! All of you, out before you get detention ! This school is not a fanclub or a freakshow, go to your classes and do your work!"

Sudden silence as people filed out to go to their classes. Ami, Makoto and Minako took their seats, everybody looked forward, backs straight. Not a word uttered.

"Now, Tsukino-san, you better have a good explication for this chaos, or you may very well be expelled for this fairy-tale catastrophe that you somehow made the media believe."

She looked at him eyes wide. Suddenly she wished for the first time that she would be allowed to stay in school.

"Tsukino-san. Your reason, now."

She stood up. She would be strong, honest and proud.

"I am Tsukino Usagi, the reincarnation of Princess Serenity, Heir to the throne of the Moon Kingdom, carrier of the Silver Moon Crystal and the holder of the Senshi power of the Moon." The words just flowed from her.

"Prove it." He wasn't fazed by it. "If I don't believe you in five minutes, the principal will have you expelled by the end of the day."

"Very Well." She closed her eyes, and let the power come over her. The tendrils of silver-white light spreading out emitting from her body, her golden crescent moon shining brightly. She stood there, as Princess Serenity. She said again, "I am Princess Serenity Heir to the throne of the Moon Kingdom, carrier of the Silver Moon Crystal and holder of the Senshi power of the moon. Blessed by Selene herself, I walk this world to protect it, and resurrect the kingdom into its past glory."

Everyone was silent. Makoto, Minako and Ami stood up. Makoto went first. She whispered her transformation phase and stood as Sailor Jupiter. "I am Kino Makoto, or Sailor Jupiter. On the Crown of the Kingdom, I pledged my life to protect the Princess and her Kingdom until my death."

Ami and Minako followed.

They all four detransformed and sat down. "Are there any other questions Tanaka-sensei?" Ami asked.

He shook his head. Everyone stared at them in shock. After class, everyone would hear of the event that happened in the first senior class, that she admitted herself as a princess and also that the Senshi transformed for them. There whole school was protected by the famous superheroes.

Tanaka-sensei cleared his throat.

History began.

* * *

"Michiru?" It was seven. She rolled over and looked at Haruka. "You didn't get any sleep." She yawned and pulled the comforter closer.

"How can you even tell?"

"Your hair isn't in every direction." She smirked.

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "What does your mirror say about all this?"

"It shows two men, who look really close to each other. Like brothers or something."

"Could it be doubles?"

"It could be, if you didn't know details well. Why?"

"I had a memory…"

    After explaining the memory, Haruka and Michiru traveled to the moon and were once again going through rooms in the Castle.

"King? I don't remember the king." Michiru said, going through a dresser drawer in a guest room.

"I only remember that Dream. It is strange."

"You have been having nightmares lately…"

"I have not." Haruka was short and looked away, going through a different the drawer trying to find false backings, anything.

"That's why two nights ago you woke up screaming? From a pleasant dream then?"

"I don't remember."

"Haruka, you've been so…"

"Distant? I am my name."

"More so. Even from me."

"There is nothing to say. The winds have not spoken to me since this began. It's like, I lost the power to hear it."

"They aren't? The ocean has been so restless; it must be mirroring something in the wind."

She gave Haruka a look as if she was looking into her soul. Haruka deflected. "It mirrors me not."

They pushed the dresser away from the wall. A door. "What's this?" It creaked as Haruka pulled it open.

"Let's go." She took Haruka's hand as they ducked and walked into the dark passage.


	7. Manuscripts

The secret passage was rather dark, but easy to follow. It went downwards in a loose spiral underneath the palace. This hallway didn't look like it was rebuilt; every step left footprints from the settled dust . There were bits and pieces of rubble from the cracks along the wall, unlike the rest of the castle. It was dull and grey, it didn’t shimmer or shine in the traditional lunar style. After a flight of stairs and a long hallway, they came to a nondescript door.

"I can feel the magic running through this." Michiru looked at Haruka while tucking a piece of aquamarine hair behind her ear. "Do you think it will let us through?"

"I don’t know. I'm going to transform before I even try to touch it though.” They called to their powers and stood in their sailor uniforms. Haruka reached out her gloved hand towards the doorknob, she felt a tingle, but an acceptance to the magic.

The palace had reintroduced all the senshi to their ancient traditions: wards, alerts, and other little useful things energies of the planets could provide them. None of the Senshi really had a grasp on what or how to create these energies, but they were present and a constant reminder of the world lost;, of knowledge lost. Haruka knew, somewhere she should have known the answer without having to try to open the door, but no matter how she wracked her brain, she could not.

She let out the breath she didn't realize that she had been holding. It opened slightly but seemed jammed. Haruka used her shoulder to force the door the rest of the way, hinges locked from disuse. Dust kicked up from the floor onto their boots. But, they had to shield their eyes to the brightness of the room. Upon moving into the somewhat cautious entryway of the room, their transformations remained in place as they looked around..

In front of them were various boxes strewn around the room, portraits against the wall, and a single bookshelf with a few books and some little trinkets on it.

The portraits immediately caught Haruka's eyes.

"Its _him_." Her voice caught in a way she didn’t expect it too. She felt her body tense as if she was in the middle of an intense fight, right this second. She took a deep breath to relax wordlessly.

Michiru looked at the picture she was referring to. Two men stood side by side, each tall and thin in immaculately dressed, flared suits. One had the sword of Uranus by his side, the other holding the silver crystal. Each with forced thin smiles. The man with the sword had a stern pale face, green decisive eyes, while the holder of the crystal had light blue eyes, similar to Usagi’s but ice cold.

Also in the room were various picture of the family, Queen Serenity, the man with the blue eyes and their young toddler daughter were lying around, some of the frames broken as if they were thrown in here just to get rid of.

Michiru walked over to the bookshelf in the corner of the room. Unlike the pictures, the bookshelf had been arranged with care. The books were in neat, straight lines, each labeled with a curvy careful script. As Haruka was pulling the first box open, Michiru breathed, "They're her dairies."

"Hrm?" Haruka looked at her, not hearing what she had said.

"They are the Queen's Dairies." She opened to a random page, and started reading the beautiful script.

* * *

 

_Today,  I found myself sitting next to Setsuna  at the time gate again. I’ve found it has become my own safe place. I often wonder idly about the physics of it all (where does she keep things?  Does she sleep?) Questions that she just smiles and offers more tea too. I asked about the tea, as it is exquisite and her reply was “It doesn't matter when the tea came from,  it is the taste.  Don't you agree?” And then it falls back into her comfortable silence. She is patient and kind, and allows for space for me to get my head together under this constant watch. Once I have she leads me back  maybe seconds after I disappeared,  if at all. Today,  I went to the time table (as i'm now calling it.  It is an odd piece of furniture in the world of myst and swirls where only she can see the paths to and from whenever)._

_Today, I failed. I tried to express my concerns so diligently but their minds are wasting in a way I can't understand. It is almost as if they cannot hear my pleading, see my desperation. I understand, they have never been my parents first. But, this kingdom is their responsibility. This kingdom should not go to those brothers. I should not be wed to Kinryoku.  Something is terribly wrong and each time I get closer to a piece of the puzzle,  I find that there is an entire new picture to put together._

_Setsuna sat there with her tea, listening to my concerns, allowing me to play out scenarios in my head. I wonder if she does the same. I finally asked her if these are  dark times ahead, and her answer was just “Each lifetime has times of dark and times of light.”_

_She squeezed my hand, which, for Setsuna is as a comforting of a gesture as I’m going to get, I suppose. It isn’t that I talk to her for comfort, but for reprieve._

Michiru placed down one book and grabbed another.

_… crying. I tried to go out, but he gave me that cold look again. That if you defy me, I'll hurt you. And I do not doubt that look anymore. I can't push right now. Serenity turns two tomorrow, but convincing him not to make it a public spectacle did not happen. I have a feeling he does this, so he can pretend everything's okay. Somehow the Power of the moon sustains my body, maybe it is draining his…._

* * *

 

Michiru closed the book. "We need to show these to Luna. The answer to where the tyldran lies may actually be in these books.”

The blue line turned to a brilliant red. They contacted the Senshi and ran out of the castle.

Haruka and Michiru arrived first, and halted. There stood a man. The same man that had appeared in front of Usagi, the wings made of a golden ice spread out behind him, as if he were some colorful demon angel. His hair was a sandy blonde, cut short, his mouth a thin serious line. He was glaring, but then he grinned.

"Ahh…" It sounded somewhat surprised and amused. "Princess Haruka, Princess Michiru, it is a pleasure to see you again."

They tensed and took up battle stances, the rest of the senshi ran up behind them.

"All of you together, what a surprise."

"Shut up with the vague talk and either tell us who you are, or let us kill you!" Haruka felt a fierce hatred towards this man and wasn't sure why.

"Princess Haruka… you should know better than to treat your father that way."

Silence.

"World Shaking!"

It vanished with a wave of the Man's hand. "Do you think the powers of Uranus work against its king? You are rash and worthless. You should have died the day you were born."

Michiru threw a Deep Submerge. He stepped out of the way and the blue magic roared into the distance

"I'm tired of these games. We'll find the Tyldran before you will." He vanished.

The senshi were left staring and with many questions.


	8. Silence and Memories

Luna and Artemis dreaded these emergency meetings on the temple grounds. Two small cats, tasked with corraling Six female warriors easily 10 times their size. Even though each Senshi was  sitting on the temple steps in a semi circle, they were asking asking a barrage of questions and only getting louder to speak over one another. Luna, even though a headache was imminent, let them go on their rambles (it was better than telling them to be quiet sometimes) until they stopped and things could be explained in a logical, timely manner. That was, if they stopped. Her tail flicking was a sign of her lack of patience in this situation. Luna hadn't been at the battle, but from their faces, especially Haruka with arms crossed and a very displeased glare, that it definitely was the King of Uranus that they had encountered.

“Girls…” Artemis started, his patience running out first. It didn’t help. 

Eventually they quieted down and then Luna and Artemis began to explain the predicament as much as possible.

"Back in the days of the Moon Kingdom, each planet had a King. Power was passed down through the male lines, and the princesses became Senshi of their planet and were pledged to protect the Silver Crystal and the holder of it. Also, they were protectors of the planets, but more in a general sense. The Kings inherited the true power of the planet they were the king of, for protecting their planet in times of invasion or war.” Artemis paused allowing the women to take in the information. 

Luna continued “However, the King of Uranus, was a tyrant. After Serenity gained the power of the Crystal, He and the King of the Moon were banished out of the galaxy for the evils they had done. Prior, a civil war had broken out between the northern and southern parts of Myania, and the King requested help bring down the rebellion using...unsavory means. He asked his brother, the King of the Moon to aid him in stopping the rebellion.”

Artemis took back over the story. “However, Queen Serenity, and the rest of the planets forbade this. They all knew that the rebellion was right in its cause, but dared not to tell the king himself directly, for fear of..."

Haruka jumped up and pointed at Usagi who was half listening, half playing with her skirt. "I'm not related to Ondago!"

She looked up with her wide blue eyes, totally caught off guard. "Whaaa...?"

Luna was about to roll over laughing, Haruka standing up, almost in an attack stance pointing at 'deer-caught-in-the-headlights' Usagi. "Yes," Luna stated factually, "You are cousins."

"We're what?" Usagi was catching on, and jumped up and looked at Haruka as if for the first time.

Suddenly it was quite apparent to the other Senshi that they could be related. Both with blonde hair, slender toned bodies, long graceful fingers. And they were both incredibly stubborn.

Michiru put a hand on Haruka's shoulder, and whispered something in her ear. Haruka gave her a 'really?' glance, and she nodded. Usagi was even more perplexed that she was a second ago, and turned to Luna. "Luna! Why didn't you mention this earlier?"

Luna paused, "I didn't really remember, Artemis and I were discussing this last night trying to put our memories together."

"That’s what you were doing, you sly cat !" Minako glared. "Woke me up at 3 am to let you out the door!"

Artemis just meowed innocently.

"Anyway" Luna huffed. "Back to the topic of discussion. No one wanted to help the King. However, his brother did. Somewhere along the lines a Tyldran was released, and the kingdom was in entire disarray so he could help his brother while his kingdom was falling apart. My guess is that they want revenge on us because they were stopped in their conquest of the solar system. Anything to add Artemis?”

He shook his furry head. Luna continued “To conclude this, everyone needs to take home a journal, to see if Queen Serenity wrote down where the Tyldran is and for any clues on how to defeat these two."

After some idle chatter, the Senshi went home.

* * *

 

Haruka slammed the door to their apartment. "Damnit ! Michiru, there is nothing I can do!"

"There are things you can do Haruka. Always." Michiru trucked a strand of aquamarine hair behind her ears.

Haruka crossed her arms and plopped down on the couch. "Not against him. He...he ripped the power out right of my hands!" She pushed the coffee table with her feet.

Michiru glanced at the askew coffee table, and slowly sat down next to Haruka "You're not weak. And there is the other King."

"The one we haven't met yet?"

"He has nothing to do with the power for Uranus."

"You don't know about that Michiru. They are _ brothers. _ " She spit the word out. 

“I know you, and you will find a way.” She placed a hand on Haruka’s shoulder. Haruka immediately brushed it away.

"You don't understand. I can't hear the winds, my head is silent, it isn't telling me anything. It's been there since I was born. I could hear when storms were coming, when things were unsettled in the sky. And now, nothing. Silence." Haruka met Michiru’s eyes. Michiru smiled, carefully drawing Haruka into her lap.  Michiru ran her hands though Haruka's short blonde hair, and she started to relax a little.

"And then there're the dreams..."

"I've noticed you hadn't been sleeping well."

"They are so confusing. Its like, I was bent on being a prince...like I had to be. And he...that 'man' of a king...there is a deep hatred for him."

"There should be 'Ruka, as Luna said, he was a tyrant."

"Its not just that...it is like... one of the dreams, he was so tall, overbearing. I’m looking up at him, I have to be on the ground. And there was just this fear... it won't go out of my head.  I felt it when I saw him today, like I'd given up hope on destroying him." Haruka paused, closing her green eyes. “Then I attacked, and I knew something was horribly wrong.”

Michiru continued to stroke Haruka's hair. "It will be much clearer soon. And we're going to get both of them in time."

Haruka tried to relax into Michiru's lap, she didn’t feel it but she replied "Yes, with time." 

* * *

 

Usagi plopped on her bed with a yawn and pulled the dairy out of her backpack. "Luna?" She was curled up in a sunspot in the window seal. She gave a slight pur questioning sound.

"Do you really think these will help us find out where it is?"

"I'm really sure, but I know Serenity wrote down everything and then hid it, she said at one point she would tell where they were on her deathbed so they could be recorded history the way she saw it."

"...I feel strange reading them, Luna"

"I think everyone does."

“I wished I remembered more about her.”

“Maybe these will help you. She was an amazing person.”

Usagi sighed. “If it hasn’t happened by now, I doubt it will.” Luna chose to jump on the bed and settle into Usagi’s lap. Usagi mindlessly started to pet luna while opening the book to read it.

_ Times are rough. I told mother that this was not what the kingdom or I needed, and she told me in no uncertain terms "Things are not about what you need. Its about the kingdom, you know that. Not family, not love, nothing but endless politics. Learn it now, and keep your people at heart. That is all you can do. Have your children, pass on the knowledge of this kingdom. It's a male dominated line. You are marrying one of the strongest and capable men in the solar system for your kingdom. To keep us safe and at at least a semblance of peace. The goal of this is for the future of this kingdom and peace with the Uranus colony. " Things are frustrating. He...the man I have been forced to court has done unspeakable things.  _

_ Things I refuse to write on paper for fear if this was discovered I would be burned.  _

_ I have no power in this kingdom. I have a brooch that can't do much at all, just enough to protect my ... I have no idea what he is. Pledged? Forced? Follow the King, Lead the Kingdom, Protect peace. Be a good princess. That's what it is all about right now, being a good princess and following the expectation of the elders. But they do not see what I see, they do not hear what I hear. Behind closed doors, in private gardens, things are brewing, and it is because of him. He is starting things, and I just pray that he does not start war when the kingdom is handed down. _

_ I wish my role mattered. I would change things for the people, bring them true peace. _

She closed the book. "Luna?" The kitty was already asleep on the window

seal. She sigh. She picked up the phone and called Mamoru.

"Mamo-chan, can you come over and talk?"

A few minutes later, he arrived at the door, going up to her bedroom with only one death glare, a don't you do anything young man, and Usagi ignoring him 'don't worry dad, we'll behave."

Ikuko yelled up the stairs "You better keep your door open !"

Usagi closed her door quietly and kissed Mamoru. He smiled and held her close for a minute, breathing in the soft scent of lavender in her hair. Then promptly reopened the door. Usagi gave him a pouty look, and he shook his head. "He'll kill me Usa."

"Not uh..." She took a step closer and kissed him again, "He'd rather not see it." She whispered, reaching for the door behind his back. It closed again with a click and she walked backwards to the bed and sat down, crossing her legs and lifting up her skirt slightly, just to let his imagination fill in blanks.

He looked back at the door hesitant. He sighed. "Usa, you…"

She blew a kiss across the two feet of space.

He sat down and kissed her again. He whispered  onto her neck, where his kisses rested. "So why did you call me over?"

"The diaries. I'm confused, about how little I remember, and I wanted to talk about what you remember."

The mood dropped and he pulled back. "I, actually don't remember much."

"Neither do I…only bits and pieces of when I was 17ish and on. When I met you. Nothing else, and it seems from the dairies that things weren't as okay as they seemed."

He nodded. "Tryant kings, civil wars… it doesn't seem like a time of peace to me."

Luna woke up and meowed at them. "Morning Luna"

"Why is he here?" She rubbed up against him.

"We're talking about what we remember."

Luna looked at Usagi and the curled up in her lap. "You better open that door before your father arrives up here."

"It's okay." She ignored the glare that Luna gave her.

"We remember only bits an pieces of the last 5 or so years of our lives… it seems that the kingdom wasn't what we were told or remember." Mamoru looked at Luna, seeing if the cat would give some answers.

Luna sighed. "It is just better that way. Remember the piece. Queen Serenity worked very hard for it, and sacrificed a lot. Know that those two men are evil, and stop them from finding the Tyldran. Some things are just better left buried."

They both were silent.

And then they heard Shingo yell as he ran down the stairs "MOM! Usagi's got her door…"

"Shit!"

Mamoru practically lept across the room to open the door, to prove they were still wearing clothes. 

Mamoru turned back to Usagi. "One day, when your brother dates, we are going to get revenge."

* * *

 

King Kyoufu of Uranus,idly looked out a window gazing on the rubble of the moon kingdom. He took a little yellow ball of energy and threw it from one hand to the other, it swirling as if a mini hurricane was blowing around it.

"Kyoufu" Kinryoku called, breaking Kyoufu's concentration.

The mini hurricane dispeared from his palm. "What?"

Kinryoku was the shorter of the two brothers, his hair now long and tied back in a pony tail. He gazed out to the surface. " It is amazing what happened to this place."

Kyoufu commented "You're wife was a fool."

"Shut up."

"What is our plan for now?"

Kinryoku shrugged. "Those Senshi aren't going to let us in without a fight, and I don't feel like having it. We wait. Play around with them a bit, here and there and let them find it first. If there was one thing Serenity was good at, it was hiding, going behind people's backs and being a hypocritical bitch. "

Kyoufu ran his hand through the sandy blonde hair. "Do you expect them to find it soon?"

"Maybe. It depends on how lucky they are. Right now, we just need to distract them, exhaust them, and turn them on each other." Kinryoku turned away. "I can't believe I was king of this forsaken moon."

"We should make them fear us." Kyoufu stated calmly.

Kinryoku looked at him in curiosity. "They already do. Did you see your daughter's face Kyoufu? Haruka was afraid."

"I did. Sadly, She doesn't remember."

"Her soul remembers. And we'll use that against her."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Review ! A Continued Thanks to The Rising Phoenix (ff.net) for her beta skills and encouragement.


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